Woods was born in Mthatha on 5 February 1941. She did well in school, skipping a year ahead and eventually leaving home at age 16 in 1958 to work in Pietermartitzburg as a librarian. She attended Trinity College of Music where she earned her Teacher's Licentiate and became a music teacher.
Her family had a cottage in Transkei Wild Coast, which is where she met her future husband, Donald Woods as a young person. She married Donald in 1962, and converted to Catholicism. They moved to East London where her husband worked for the Daily Dispatch. Together, the couple had six children, five of which survived past infancy.
Woods described herself and her husband as "politically late developers," having grown up in a small town among racist adults. Woods joined the anti-apartheid women's group, the Black Sash. She began to demonstrate in East London with members of the group. A friend, Barbara Briceland, said that Woods was very active in various anti-apartheid campaigns. She also helped hide those hiding from the police. She visited activist Steve Biko in prison.

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